


where you are is where i want to be

by atlantisairlock



Category: Ocean's 8 (2018)
Genre: Background Relationships, Cute Kids, Domestic Fluff, F/F, Falling In Love, Family Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Future Fic, Happy Ending, Love Confessions, Parent-Child Relationship, Sibling Bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-08
Updated: 2018-07-08
Packaged: 2019-06-07 03:50:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15210281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/atlantisairlock/pseuds/atlantisairlock
Summary: After the heist, the eight of them stay on together - with some additions to the family.





	where you are is where i want to be

**Author's Note:**

> for a tumblr anon, who asked for: nine ball x tammy where tammy frets over nine ball’s little sister & mothers her & nine ball teaches tammy’s kids coding & falls asleep on the couch with them laying on her chest & they’re a big beautiful blended family also nine ball wants a baby now. 
> 
> background debbie x lou + daphne x rose. amita x constance isn't exactly mentioned but just pretend they're there ok they're all gay & cute & happy & in love. 
> 
> title from 'only place i call home' by every avenue.

When they first get together to plan the Toussaint heist, Debbie and Lou warn all of them of Rule Number One - _don’t_ tell anybody what they’re doing. It’s supposed to be obvious. If anybody outside the team knows about their plan, it puts them all at risk in case that person lets anything slip. Everyone agrees, and everyone keeps their mouths shut.

Except Nine Ball, because first of all - she and Veronica, they’ve never kept secrets from each other. She’s everything Veronica has in this world, and in similar fashion, Veronica is everything she has, too. When her little sister was born, their dad made her swear that she would always protect her, always keep an eye out for her, always prioritise her above everything, and Nine Ball’s always taken that to heart. She would move heaven and earth for the sake of Veronica’s happiness and safety. They’re always honest with each other, and there’s nobody Veronica trusts more than her big sister. Nine Ball wants to live up to that. 

So she tells her, trusts her sister to be smart about what she does with the information. Veronica listens avidly, nods, and then pokes holes in the data transmission system for the glasses. Nine Ball sits down to listen and takes notes.

 

 

It ends up being a good decision, because Rose comes to them with the unexpected last-minute obstacle of the magnets on the necklace or whatever, and she ends up having to approach Veronica anyway. Little brat goes and reveals her real name to the team - there goes any hope of keeping the baller facade up - and has a solution for them within three days. As if Nine Ball would’ve expected anything less - she’s a _genius,_ is her sister. 

With Veronica’s magnet contraption - she explains it to Nine Ball _three times_ with exaggerated patience, but halfway through the third round Nine Ball gives it up - Constance gets the necklace off Daphne’s neck, Amita takes it apart in the kitchen bathroom, and they all wear the jewels out of the Gala like nobody’s business. John Frazier jumps on the case and Daphne Kluger storms into their headquarters, but in the end, everything blows over smoothly, and she has thirty-eight million dollars in an offshore account, enough to last her the rest of her life if she plays it right. 

The first (and only) person she tells, obviously, is Veronica, who seems more interested in hearing about the team than about the cash. “Your friends sound cool as shit,” she says, toying with some solar-powered gadget she made. “Especially that one who came out of the van, the tall one. The brunette, with the long hair. The smoking hot one.” 

Nine Ball rolls her eyes. “Don’t even think about it. She’s taken by the other hot blonde one you saw.” 

Veronica pouts for a second, then goes back to her trademark grin. “So, now that we have thirty million bucks, please tell me we’re moving out of this hovel.” 

“The only hovel here is your room, thank you very much,” Nine Ball snips back, because _hey,_ she likes this apartment, all right? But it’s a good question. She bites her lip, thinking about leaving - _really_ leaving, far away, going wherever she wants. It stings, a little. It takes her a second to realise why. 

“Veronica,” she starts, carefully. “When you met the team, that day - did you like them?”

 _“Like_ them? I would bang the shit out of all of them,” she replies promptly, because complete honesty between them has not always been palatable to Nine Ball’s ears. “Except you, ew. You’re my sister.” 

Nine Ball gives her an unimpressed glare. “I _mean,_ did they seem like good people? Kind? Trustworthy?” She swallows hard, trying to find the right words. “Because Debbie opened up headquarters to all of us, and most of them want to stay. And I think I want to, too. With you, of course - the invitation extends to you. And I was wondering if that would work for you.” 

She really shouldn’t be surprised that Veronica’s eyes light up immediately. “Um, fucking duh, that sounds _dope._ Living with a bunch of smoking hot crazy smart criminals? Imagine all the stuff we could do!” 

“No stuff,” Nine Ball replies firmly. “We have enough money to live on for the next fifty years and more. You’re going to college.” 

“You are no fun,” Veronica retorts, but Nine Ball’s already mentally packing her bags.

 

 

Veronica fits in seamlessly the moment she arrives at headquarters. Everyone already likes her because she basically saved the heist, and she’s always been charming and clever, impressing people easy as pie. Constance takes a shine to her immediately - in between rehearsing her movements for the heist and pickpocketing all of them to keep her skills sharp, she’s spent a lot of time sprawled on the sofa bemoaning how nobody in the house understands her memes. The moment Veronica answers something she says with “wig”, they’re instantly best friends. Nine Ball doesn’t even bother trying to understand. 

All in all, it’s nice, though. For Veronica, Nine Ball’s all she’s had for the _longest_ time, after their parents died. She didn’t really have a lot of friends in school, preferring to keep her own company, and their relatives weren’t in the picture much. Nine Ball thinks it’s good for her to have other responsible adult presences in her life. 

It helps that Tammy stays, too. She brings her two kids to live with them and the warehouse-turned-home is suddenly a lot louder and more chaotic than it was a month ago, but everyone embraces it. They basically hero-worship Veronica and follow her around like ducklings, which Nine Ball finds adorable. And it seems to be good for Veronica’s sense of responsibility, too. 

Tammy, in turn, frets endlessly over Veronica like she’s her mother, once she learns what happened to their parents. They didn’t really see that much of Tammy’s motherly instinct during the planning period, but now it comes out in full force. She’s always the first one up in the mornings, making pancakes for her kids (and everyone else, too), making sure they take their baths at night and sending them to school and soccer practice and karate and ballet class. 

The kids are… cute. Zoe is always asking Lou for rides on her Harley with these puppy-dog eyes that make Lou melt - not that she ever agrees, because Tammy will give her the evil eye and Lou will shrink under it immediately. Caleb manages to wheedle everyone, even Daphne, into playing soccer with him in the backyard whenever he’s bored. Both of them sit by Nine Ball when she’s on her laptop and watch in fascination. 

There’s an afternoon when it’s just her and Zoe at home - everyone else is off doing who-knows-what and Tammy took Caleb (and Veronica) out to the zoo, which Zoe is apparently not a fan of - and Zoe leans into her side while Nine Ball hacks into the security system of a fancy tailor’s in uptown New York. She peers at Nine Ball’s screen, nose scrunched. “What are you doing?”

“Um,” Nine Ball says, racking her brains for something child-appropriate to say. “I… am coding.” Not exactly a lie. The system runs code. She’s messing with the code. Voila, coding. 

Zoe lights up, apparently not suspecting a thing. “I know coding!” She says, sitting up and clapping excitedly. “Our teacher mentioned it. She says it’s like a speaking a language and you can do lots of things with computers if you know how to do it.”

“That’s exactly right, buddy,” Nine Ball agrees. “If you know how to code, you can make web sites and software and even the apps you play with on your phone. Cool, huh?”

She nods, eyes wide. “Can you teach me, Aunt Leslie?” 

Nine Ball sighs, making a mental note to murder Debbie for teaching the kids how to address all of them - at least she’s not Daffy Duck, which had Debbie roaring with laughter even as Daphne was chasing her unglamorously around the house to strangle her. “Sure, Zoe. But just call me Nine, okay?” She pats her lap, shifting the laptop a little so Zoe has some space. “Come on, let me show you some easy stuff.” 

They’re still at it when Tammy, Caleb and Veronica get home three hours later. Nine Ball doesn’t even realise they’re back until she happens to look up and sees Tammy standing in the doorway with a some complicated expression on her face. Nine Ball suddenly and abruptly realises that she might have been overstepping. Quickly, she pauses the video she was showing Zoe and places the laptop on the coffee table. “Hey, I think that’s enough for today. Why don’t you go play in your room, okay?”

“Aww,” Zoe pouts reluctantly, but obediently hops off Nine Ball’s lap. “Thanks, Aunt Nine. Can we do this again tomorrow?”

Nine Ball’s heart clenches a little with how much she _does_ want to do it again tomorrow - it’s been so long since she did simple, basic coding, just for the sheer _fun_ of it, and showing Zoe the ropes was… it was _good._

But this is Tammy’s kid, and not hers, and something like panic fills her chest when Tammy doesn’t say anything for a moment, keeps her gaze trained on them, until - 

“Tomorrow evening, okay, sweetie?” Tammy says, shifting her glance to Zoe, a fond smile finding its way onto her face. Zoe turns and smiles happily to see her mother, running into her outstretched arms. “Go wash your hands and get ready for dinner. I’ll see you downstairs in a bit.” 

Zoe nods and runs off to her room, leaving the two of them alone. Tammy doesn’t move closer, and Nine Ball doesn’t get up, but the tension relaxes just a little. 

“Sorry,” Nine Ball begins, the ache in her chest not lifting. “It’s just - she asked, and you know, it’s good for girls to be interested in STEM and all these male-dominated fields, and the world is becoming so technologically advanced, and it’ll be good if she’s proficient at coding, and - “

“I’m not mad, Nine Ball,” Tammy says softly, blessedly interrupting Nine Ball’s babbling, which was growing a bit frantic. “I just… thank you. She looked happy.”

 _So was I,_ Nine Ball thinks, and swallows down the truth of it.

 

 

Veronica gets straight As and does amazingly on her SATs - like there was ever going to be any doubt - and when she tells the house, everyone breaks out into cheers and congratulations. Amita and Tammy cook up a feast and Lou breaks out some champagne. 

“To our resident genius,” Debbie proclaims, raising her glass. Everyone echoes it, leaving Veronica blushing a little and grinning. They clink glasses and drink and tuck into dinner, and the mood is buoyant. 

“Let’s talk colleges,” Nine Ball says, halfway through her plate of biryani. “Where are you thinking of going? Because with grades like that and the money I have, you can go anywhere you want. Think big.” 

Veronica shrugs, sighing. “I don’t know. Like, I was _so_ sure throughout senior year, but now that everything’s settled and I actually have my grades and there are so many possibilities, I don’t know how to pick.” She waves her fork, frowning. “How did you guys decide what you wanted to do?”

Everyone glances at each other around the table. Daphne is the first to raise her eyebrows and shake her head. “Don’t look at me. I was acting by age five. I barely scraped past high school because I was out of class so much.” 

“Same,” Rose offers. “I didn’t think I needed to go to college to do fashion, so I didn’t.” 

“My parents didn’t think Danny and I needed to go to college to commit crimes, either,” Debbie adds, to a high five from Constance, who apparently thought the same. Amita nods along, rolling her eyes. “Family business, and my mother whined so much about a girl’s place being at home that I just went along with it.” 

Veronica turns her gaze to Lou and Tammy, the last two - she already knows Nine Ball never went to college, forsake it to take care of Veronica. Lou smirks wryly, lazily waving one hand. “I applied to medical school and stayed for a bit, but I dropped out in my first year. Not really an academic person.” 

Tammy sighs and folds her arms, staring across at Veronica. “Well, I went to business school, because that’s where I thought my strengths lay.” Debbie snorts, and Tammy prods her in the side, smiling. “I chose a school that was known to produce alumni that went into industries that I was interested in, that was located in my home state, and of course, one that I could actually afford. See, the thing about picking a college is that…” 

Veronica shifts her chair closer to Tammy to listen and discuss, and everyone else falls back into light conversation while they bend their heads together to talk. Nine Ball keeps digging into her food, suddenly feeling a complicated mix of pride and confusion and sadness and weird _want_ curling up in her stomach. 

She chalks it down to the fact that Veronica’s growing up, right before her eyes. Off to _college._ There are days Nine Ball still looks at her little sister, and sees the tiny squalling baby nestled in some blankets, wrapped in their mother’s arms. Sometimes it feels like she’s always going to be nine years old, wide-eyed, listening to her father’s words, swearing to keep her baby sister safe and happy no matter what. 

For so long, her life has revolved around Veronica, and hacking, and living day-to-day. Things are different now, and it makes her wonder where she’s going, and what she’s going to do from here.

It’s a little scary.

 

 

“I need your help,” Tammy says one evening, peering into Nine Ball’s room a little hesitantly. Nine Ball looks up and lowers her laptop screen immediately, rolling over to the door. “Sure. What’s up?”

“Can you help me babysit the kids tomorrow evening? Nobody else is going to be home, and their ballet class was cancelled this week, and I really, really need to do the grocery run.” She sighs, running her fingers through her hair and Nine Ball notices the stress on her face. “I’ll pay you, if you want. I know you must be busy, I just - “

“Hey, no money talk, okay? We’re friends, right? Friends do stuff like that for each other,” Nine Ball replies sharply. “Of course I’ll watch the kids. Go do what you need to. We’ll have fun together. Zoe can start Caleb on coding.” 

Tammy gives her a small smile, bright and genuine but also a little exhausted. “Thanks, Nine,” she says, real gratitude in her voice. “I just - I need to do the run.” 

And there’s so much more in that statement that Nine Ball hears - _I need this time alone, I need to just get out of here for a bit, I love the kids so much but I need this._ It’s so achingly familiar, because she loves Veronica more than her own life, but she was also seventeen-going-on-eighteen when their parents died and still a child herself and sometimes it was just so hard, giving up absolutely everything else for the sake of her sister. She doesn’t regret it - she could _never_ regret it - but some small part of her wonders who she would’ve, could’ve been, if she hadn’t spent those years being a sibling and parent and guardian but not being herself, not really.

It must be hard for Tammy, too. Without her husband, handling two kids on her own, being responsible for two whole lives. Nine Ball hears it in her tone, sees it in her eyes, _feels_ it - _I’m alone._

“You’re not alone,” she says, before she can stop herself. She rests one hand on Tammy’s shoulder, looking her right in the eyes. “You got us, okay? We’re here for you.” 

Tammy looks back at her for a long minute, and it dawns on Nine Ball how close they are, how dark it is, and her heart stops for a second as she realises how much she _wants_ this, and how easy it would be to tip her chin up and lean in and - 

“Yeah,” Tammy says, and it breaks the spell of the moment. “I know. I - thank you. I’m glad. I’m lucky to have all of you.” She steps back, shoots Nine Ball another quick smile. “Thanks again. I’ll do the run as quickly as I can, and get them out of your hair.” 

She’s gone before Nine Ball can respond. 

 

 

When Tammy leaves the next evening, Caleb and Zoe climb into Nine Ball’s lap like they belong there, and part of her feels like it does. Quashing that part of her is one of the hardest things she’s ever done, but she manages - just. She swallows down the sting in her throat, the burn in her eyes, and grins at both of them. “What do you two want to do today?”

“Poker!” Caleb pipes up. Zoe smiles, nodding along. Nine Ball narrows her eyes. “Who taught you guys how to play poker?”

“Aunt Daphne and Aunt Rose,” Zoe says promptly. Nine Ball just manages to resist rolling her eyes, because _of course they did._ Caleb speaks up, not wanting to be outdone. “Aunt Daphne always loses,” he offers. “Aunt Rose says Aunt Daphne owes her a million bucks!”

Honestly, knowing Daphne and Rose, Nine Ball wouldn’t be surprised if this wasn’t an exaggeration. She sighs, reaching for a deck of cards that Constance left on the side table. “Okay, we can play poker. But we don’t play for money, okay?”

“Aunt Rose and Aunt Daphne play for money,” Zoe says, starting to look obstinate. “And Aunt Daphne said sometimes they play a version called strip. But they wouldn’t tell us what that means.”

“Right,” Nine Ball replies, considering whether she should tattle back to Tammy and sit back and enjoy the entertainment that will be Tammy reading Daphne and Rose the riot act. “Well, Aunt Daphne and Aunt Rose play for money because they have _lots_ of money. How much money do you two have?” They frown and don’t say anything. “I thought as much. How about this, let’s play with something more interesting. Like… Skittles!” Nine Ball suggests triumphantly. “We’ll bet Skittles and when we’re done playing, we can eat them.”

This is met with enthusiastic agreement. Nine Ball tells them to hang tight while she goes to the kitchen and gets a few bags of the stuff and three plates for them to put the Skittles on, then sits them comfortably down on the carpet and distributes cards and candy. “Alright, you two sure you know how to play?”

“Yes!” They chorus, and Nine Ball grins. “All right, let’s play.”

 

 

Caleb and Zoe actually do know how to play - apparently they have been spending quite a lot of time with Daphne and Rose. Nine Ball gets taken in more than once by Caleb’s bluffing and Zoe’s amazing poker face. She gives up a two pair thinking Caleb has a full house when he has _nothing,_ and loses a quarter of her Skittles to Zoe. She would be upset if she wasn’t so impressed. 

They play for quite a few rounds until Zoe gets bored and Caleb gets tired. Nine Ball sweeps the cards up, putting them back in their place. “What’s next?”

“I’m sleepy,” Caleb proclaims, flopping dramatically onto the sofa. “I wanna nap.” 

“I want a story,” Zoe says, hands on her hips. “Aunt Nine, will you read to us?”

Nine Ball hasn’t read to anyone since Veronica was a little kid. The request makes something long-buried well up inside her. “Sure,” she says, trying to keeping her voice steady. “What do you want me to read?”

Zoe runs to their bedroom and comes back with an evidently much-loved copy of short stories by Enid Blyton. She presses it into Nine Ball’s hands, and Nine Ball takes it, grinning. “Good choice. Come on, up on the sofa.”

She lays back on the arm of the couch, with Caleb sprawled on her front and already nodding off. Zoe curls up against her side, yawning a little but slightly more alert. Nine Ball holds the book up so she doesn’t disturb Caleb, and starts to read. 

It’s soothing, even for herself, and her voice trails off a little bit when she sees the kids both starting to drowse, this close to slipping off into peaceful sleep. They look so innocent and beautiful and perfect, and it almost _consumes_ her - how deeply and powerfully she loves them both, what extents she would go to for their sakes. 

She wants to do this forever - lie on the couch with them, read them stories until they fall asleep, with no care in the world, no fears. She thinks about it - really _thinks_ about it, standing by Tammy’s side, holding her hand, sending both of them off to school and watching them grow up. Her breath catches as she toys with the idea of another little kid, standing beside them - the two of them holding a tiny human being in their arms, looking down on them with the same adoration and wonder in their eyes Nine Ball remembers from the day Veronica was born. A kid of her own, with both their surnames, calling both of them _mom -_

And she wants it so badly it hurts, like nothing ever has in her life - 

“Why’d you stop reading, Aunt Nine?” Zoe mumbles, eyes still closed, jolting Nine Ball back to the present. She hurriedly looks for where she stopped, stroking Zoe’s hair slowly to coax her back to sleep, continues reading. 

 

 

Nine Ball doesn’t remember when she fell asleep along with the kids, but she wakes up to someone shaking her shoulder gently. “Nine? Hey, I’m back. Wake up.” 

She manages to open her eyes, sticky with sleep, and sees Tammy standing over her, a still-dozing Zoe hoisted to her shoulder with one arm. Caleb’s standing beside her, eyes still closed, leaning against her thigh. “I’m going to get them washed up and tucked in,” she says softly. “You should probably do that, too. Thanks for watching them.”

“Mmf,” Nine Ball responds, maneuvering herself into an upright position and holding back a yawn. “No problem.” 

She’s still half-asleep, really, so she thinks she dreams it - Tammy staring down at her for a second, then bending over to brush her lips quickly against Nine Ball’s forehead, then saying a soft goodnight. The texture of the memory seems dreamlike enough when she wakes up the next morning, and she doesn’t want to deceive herself by _hoping._

 

 

“Tammy’s nice,” Veronica says one afternoon, apropos of nothing, while both of them are lazing around in Nine Ball’s room with the air-conditioning at full blast. It sounds innocent enough, but she shoots Nine Ball this _look_ that says anything otherwise. Nine Ball narrows her eyes. “What does that mean?”

“Nothing, I’m just saying she’s nice,” Veronica replies, her eyes very wide. She keeps it up for two seconds before she laughs and rolls over, chin in hands and staring at her sister. “I think she likes you.” 

Nine Ball makes a disbelieving noise, casually flipping to the next page of her book and trying badly to hide how it swells and roils in her chest - how much she wants that to be true. Veronica jabs her right in the calf. “I’m _serious,_ Leslie. She’s been helping me with college apps, right? And she frets over me like a _mom,_ and we _talk._ Whenever I mention you she gets this weird look in her eyes. You know, the one people have when they want something but they think they can’t have it.” Nine Ball stays silent, and Veronica rolls her eyes. “Leslie. _Les-lie._ She likes you. A lot. Find your balls and tell her how you feel.”

“No gendered language in the house,” Nine Ball says sternly. Veronica glares at her. “Okay, I’m sorry. Pluck up some courage and _tell her how you feel.”_

And shit, does Veronica think she doesn’t _want_ to? Nine Ball _wants_ \- she’s wanted for so long. Tammy is beautiful and generous and whip-smart, and until the heist Nine Ball never thought she was one for romantic commitment. She _never_ let herself fall in love, especially when she was younger, because her one priority was Veronica, always. Even now, even as her sister’s growing up and learning to stand on her own two feet. It feels like a betrayal to even think about letting anyone else in, and it scares Nine Ball how badly she wants to be with Tammy, how much she thinks she could love her if she allowed herself to. Even while they were planning the heist, she could feel her orbit shifting in favour of Tammy and it scared the living shit out of her. It’s why she put up her walls and kept it casual and tried not to let them in. It’s why she almost ran. 

She loves Tammy and she loves Caleb and she loves Zoe and it’s like nothing she’s ever felt in this world and she’s fucking _terrified._

But Veronica - genius, wonderful Veronica, light of Nine Ball’s life - blessedly gets it. She straightens up and puts on the serious face and grabs Nine Ball’s hand. “Leslie. Hey, look at me. Is this about me? Be honest. Is this about me?”

“It’s about _us,”_ Nine Ball says, choking on the words, feeling the burn beneath her ribs. “You’re my little sister, okay? You’re family. You’re my responsibility, for the rest of my life. You’re my whole world.” She closes her eyes, because she doesn’t want Veronica to see her cry. “For _years_ I’ve known exactly what I was doing and where I was going. Raise you, watch you grow, fund our lives with the work I do, day after day after day. If I let this happen, it - it changes everything.” 

Veronica listens patiently, then sighs when Nine Ball falls silent, pulling her into a hug. “Oh, Leslie,” she says softly. “Don’t you get it? Everything _has_ changed. Look at us. Look at where we are. I know that for so long, we were your whole world. But that world is different now, and that’s okay. You love me, and I love you, and we’ll always be sisters, and we’ll always be important to each other. But that doesn’t mean you can’t love her too.” She eases out of the hug, cups Nine Ball’s face in her hands and stares her down. “You have been sacrificing so much for the past ten years just so that I could make it. Here I am. I made it. Now you get to go and be who you want to be and do what you want to do and love who you want to love. Okay?”

Nine Ball can’t speak for a good five minutes, can’t even open her mouth or make a sound because if she does, she just _knows_ she’ll be bawling like a child - because she’s so proud of Veronica, who’s grown up to be so kind and good and wonderful; because it feels like she’s been holding her breath for _years_ and now she can finally exhale, let go, breathe. Veronica just holds her hands and lets her heave and shake for a bit, calm down. 

When she can _finally_ get a grip again, Nine Ball manages a wan smile and pats her sister lightly on the cheek. “Y’know, if your career in tech doesn’t work out, you would make a great motivational speaker.” 

“Screw you,” Veronica replies cheerfully. “Now go get your girl.”

 

 

Despite her sister’s pestering, Nine Ball doesn’t march out right that second to confess her undying love to Tammy in the middle of the warehouse, because _duh._ She really doesn’t think that’s the key to winning Tammy over, and also there is no way she’s doing it anywhere in earshot of the other girls unless she wants to be teased from now to the rest of eternity. 

It happens later, when Veronica asks to go to Coney Island for her birthday and Caleb and Zoe catch wind of it - Nine Ball is _pretty_ sure Veronica leaked it to them - and beg to come too. Tammy looks flustered and Veronica jumps in - sneaky little shit - and invites them all to go together. Which is how she ends up sitting on a bench with Tammy holding the kids’ stuff while Veronica takes them on a rollercoaster, watching and waiting for them to return. It’s warm, the sun just begining to set, both of them sharing candy floss that Zoe bought and then couldn’t finish. There’s no tension, no electricity, just this comforting silence and understanding, and maybe, just maybe - 

“I’m glad you came out with us today,” Nine Ball says softly, looking out at the park, not at Tammy, but pressing closer. “I’m glad you’re here with us. All of you. I - I love them, Tammy. Caleb, and Zoe, and - I really do. They’re so funny and intelligent and _perfect_ and I love them so much. I’m glad they’re here with us.” 

Tammy is quiet for a bit, and Nine Ball feels the anxiety and _longing_ just rising up and up. Tammy reaches back into the tub of floss, carefully eating it. “I love Veronica,” she says, cautiously but with deep sincerity. “She’s brilliant. She’s going to go so far in life and we’re all so lucky that we get to watch her grow with you.” She turns, now, looking right at Nine Ball, expression open and almost yearning. “I love her. I love,” she pauses, breathes, holds it. “I love you.” 

Nine Ball exhales in a rush, dizzy with the sudden wild joy, leans in and kisses her full on the mouth, tastes sugar and strawberry. Tammy puts the plastic tub down and wraps her arms around her, kissing back with a soft sigh, and _god,_ it feels like she’s finally, finally come home. 

“Gross,” they both hear, and pull apart immediately to see Zoe standing in front of the bench screwing her eyes shut. Caleb’s pretending to gag, chanting something about kissing and cooties. Veronica snorts with laughter. “Come on, guys, let the lovebirds have their moment. This is what we wanted for them, right?”

“I guess,” Caleb says, still looking grossed-out. “Does this mean our plan worked, Ronnie?” 

“Yes, Caleb, it was fantastic.” She shoots Nine Ball a smug smile and Nine Ball rolls her eyes - she _knew_ Veronica was up to something when she suggested Coney Island. Zoe sticks out her tongue. “Kissing is still _yucky.”_

“Yeah, keep thinking that until you’re eighteen, honey,” Tammy shoots back, but she’s grinning. “How was the rollercoaster?” 

The kids break out into happy chatter immediately, and Zoe shouts something about wanting to take some other crazy ride next. Tammy slides her arm around Nine Ball’s waist, ruffling Zoe’s hair fondly. “Go ahead,” she says, nodding at Veronica’s questioning smile. “We’ll be right here when you guys are done.”

“Both of us,” Nine Ball completes, and lets herself lean in, hold on, and fall in love.


End file.
